Ethnobotany and the Sustainable Use of Biodiversity

doi:10.7677/ynzwyj201313002

Abstract

Abstract:

Ethnobotany, as a scientific discipline, deals with humanplant relationships, and is vitally important to plant conservation. Ethnobotany is used in many countries throughout the world for documenting indigenous knowledge of plants. Consequently, many inventories of useful plants in local floras have been compiled. Over the last hundred years, local knowledge about plants, gained through ethnobotanical studies, has contributed greatly to the development of medicine and agriculture, and to the discovery of numerous new plantbased products. Since the 1960s, the scientific community has become increasingly aware of the magnitude of global environmental change, now occurring at a speed never before encountered in human history. Natural resources are being depleted at an alarming rate and there are threats of imminent extinction to many species. Faced with this crisis, ethnobotanical research assumes a new urgency, not only as a tool for trying to deal with environmental degradation, but also for its potential usefulness in contributing to sustainable use of plant resources and poverty reduction among rural communities. Ethnobotanical research can contribute to modern development in many ways, including: creating information/databanks of traditional knowledge about plants for use in conservation and future development; managing the landscape so as to best deliver conservation benefits of all types; enhancing rural community engagement in rural development. This paper discusses ethnobotany and its role in modern development and biodiversity conservation, the challenges that biodiversity and sustainable use face,and the biocultural approach of biodiversity use and conservation.

Key words: Ethnobotany, Biodiversity, Traditional knowledge, Plant resources, Sustainable use and conservation

摘要：

民族植物学是一门研究人与植物相互关系的学科，用于了解世界各地人与植物的相互关系，对于寻找保护植物的最好方法至关重要，这一科学领域在许多国家被应用于有关植物的传统知识调查记载，大量地方性植物区系中的有用植物编目已经完成。在过去一百年中，从民族植物学调查获得的有关植物的地方性知识，对于药物和农业发展，以及植物新产品开发作出了巨大贡献。自从20世纪60年代以来，科学界更为关注全球环境变化的重要性，现代环境变化的速度是人类历史上从来没有过的。自然资源正以惊人的速度消失，威胁到大量物种以至最终灭绝。面对这一危机，民族植物学研究面临的紧迫任务，不仅是作为一种科学工具应对环境的退化，而且由于它的巨大潜力，能为植物资源可持续利用和农村扶贫作出重要贡献。民族植物学研究对现代发展的贡献是多方面的，其中包括：构建传统植物学信息库为保护和发展服务；管理景观系统为保护工作提供各种形式的帮助；加强社区参与农村发展的活力。本文围绕民族植物学在生物多样性保护和现代农村发展中的作用，生物多样性保护和可持续利用面临的挑战，以及生物与文化途径在利用和保护生物多样性中的作用等进行了探讨。

关键词: 民族植物学, 生物多样性, 传统知识, 植物资源, 可持续利用与保护

CLC Number:

Q 948.12

PEI Sheng-Ji. Ethnobotany and the Sustainable Use of Biodiversity[J]. Plant Diversity, 2013, 35(4): 401-406.

裴盛基. 民族植物学与生物多样性的可持续利用[J]. Plant Diversity, 2013, 35(4): 401-406.

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